Confessions of a Mum-to-be

Today we sit down for an interview with Wenxin, a gorgeous mum-to-be! 

At the age of 27 in Singapore, people around me are getting BTOs and planning weddings. And my friend Wenxin is the first of my close friends to have a baby :') It was such great news and I have been really excited about the whole journey! I also thought she had lots of great stories and tips to share with you guys, whether you plan to have a baby or not. So let's jump in!

When you found out that you were pregnant, how did you announce the news?

We wanted to give our parents and grandparents a surprise, so we printed photos of our honeymoon, placed them in a photo album, and put our ultrasound scan at the very last page! They were pretty stunned for a few seconds because they didn't think we would be expecting so fast haha.

For the rest of our family and close friends, we told them the news face to face, or through WhatsApp for those we couldn't meet. It was really nice how everyone was so excited and happy about the news! In fact, some of them seemed even more excited than us haha. One of my friends even saved my next gynae appointment date in her calendar so that she would remember to get an update on gender and progress of the baby!

Wenxin and her husband announcing the news

What are some things about pregnancy that nobody told you?

I was quite prepared in terms of pregnancy symptoms because my sister-in-law and friend shared quite a lot about their pregnancy with me, so I knew about the crazy fatigue, nausea, leg cramps, vivid dreams etc that would hit me.The funniest symptom I've heard about, and thankfully have not experienced, is the 'Lightning Crotch' - sudden and often sharp pain, deep in the pelvis or vaginal area that some mums experience during their pregnancy.

However, nobody mentioned to me how important it is to have a supportive partner, maybe because it's supposed to be a given? I am very thankful that my husband is an understanding, stable and loving guy because the pregnancy journey would have been a lot tougher and less happy without his support. He listened when I needed someone to rant to, gave me leg massages almost every day and was a pillar of strength and calm when I wasn't.

How has pregnancy changed you? 

Physically, I'm about 15kg heavier. I had a few people ask me where the weight goes, so see the chart below:

Source: Mayo Clinic

I've never been this heavy in my life before, and it did take some getting used to. The extra weight made me clumsier, and my feet hurt if I walked too much, but it was a good excuse to buy new shoes ;)

Thankfully, I also didn't experience wild mood swings from the hormones, but of course there were some days when I felt 'off' for no reason, and days when I felt absolutely ecstatic. Definitely not complaining about the latter!

Pregnancy also made me prioritise my health and well-being a lot more, because it does affect the baby. So I ate even when I had no appetite, rested a lot more and tried to exercise as much as I can.This whole pregnancy journey also made me more in awe of the human body - how it can create a human being and adapt to carry it for 9 months?! Though if humans could adapt even more to make the entire pregnancy process less tiring and childbirth less painful, that would be perfect, wouldn't it?

What was magical for you?

Feeling the baby move, kick, or punch! Every time it happens I just feel a sense of contentment and cannot wait to meet him.

And what was frustrating for you?

The unpredictability of the changes was really frustrating. I never know whether I'll be having a good or bad day. I would feel super tired on some days, fine on the other days, but the worst was falling sick and taking very long to recover because I cannot take the usual medication. Having disrupted sleep due to the need to pee every hour or because of leg cramps in the middle of the night was quite annoying too.

Is there anything you miss when not being pregnant? 

I really miss being able to sleep through the night. I haven't done that since the 2nd trimester because the baby was pressing on the bladder, which meant that I had to pee every 1 hour or so. I also miss being able to do Muay Thai!

What kind of parents do you think you guys would be?

We would like to be loving and patient parents who encourage the kids to have a growth mindset and to be kind to all.

What are some useful websites you recommend?

I don't stick to a few websites. Instead, I usually Google and read a few websites to make sure they corroborate, to see what the differing views are, and that it's not some fake news or old wives' tales lol.

I found the pregnancy tracker app Nurture very useful - you can track your symptoms, medication etc. It also provides daily articles about pregnancy, so I learn something new every day!

Glow Nurture helps you track the 101 things to do during pregnancy. (And no, we are #notsponsored)

Do you have any tips for mummies-to-be?

Take it slow and take care of yourself! Know that every woman's pregnancy journey and symptoms are different. Also, eating for two is a lie!! So many people have told me I can eat as much as I want and I should indulge. However, you really don't need to eat a lot more food. In fact, in the first trimester,most pregnant women don’t even need to have extra calories! Depending on your pre-pregnancy weight,we only need around 300-500 cals in the later trimesters.

Another tip would be to exercise when you can. Even 30 mins of walking helps! Get a fitness buddy so you will drag your body to exercise even when you feel like a zombie (thank you for being my fitness buddy). Like they said, no one ever regrets a workout :)

Skye: It's true guys, we went swimming during her pregnancy and she always swam faster and more laps than me! Haha. 
Thank you Wenxin for having this interview with us! I definitely learned a lot, and I hope you gained some insight about how being pregnant feels like. I was also one of those who asked her tons of questions during her pregnancy LOL and she never hesitated to share her new knowledge with me. Thanks for being patient as always!

New mummies and mums-to-be, what are your experiences? What were your favourite parts and not-so-favourite parts of being pregnant? Comment below ^^

I hope to be bringing to you guys more featured people and articles like this post, so I hope you enjoyed this one! Stay tuned for more and thanks for reading :)

Till next time,
Skye

Update: Wenxin has since delivered a healthy baby boy :) She now faces new challenges like pumping milk every three hours, even in the small hours of the night. We wish our two new parents all the best in their child-raising journey! ❤